1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks and, in particular, to message delivery over LTE networks.
2. Statement of the Problem
Service providers provide numerous voice and/or data services to subscribers using mobile devices, one of which is text and multimedia messaging. In many mobile networks, text/multimedia messaging has become a very popular mode of communication. One example of a text messaging service is Short Message Service (SMS), which is a communication protocol allowing the exchange of short text messages (i.e., 160 characters) between mobile devices. One example of a multimedia messaging service is Multimedia Message Service (MMS), which is a communication protocol allowing the exchange of multimedia messages (i.e., digital pictures, media clips, etc) between mobile devices. Often times, mobile users more frequently use text or multimedia messaging for communication than voice calls.
There are a variety of types of networks operable to provide voice and data communications for mobile users. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP, 3GPP2) puts forth specifications defining standards for communicating over these networks. One present project within the 3GPP is the Long Term Evolution (LTE) which is a project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. The architecture defined by this project is referred to as the Evolved Packet System (EPS). The EPS architecture comprehends E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN) on the access side and EPC (Evolved Packet Core) on the core side.
Presently, the 3GPP specifications rely on legacy Short Messaging Service Centers (SMSC) and Multimedia Messaging Service Centers (MMSC) for message delivery. Legacy SMSCs and MMSCs are not able to deliver messages to a mobile device over an LTE network. Thus, even if a mobile device is registered with an LTE network, the mobile device is not able to receive SMS or MMS messages over the LTE network.